( ( ( ( ( nba bubble ball 2020 ) ) ) ) )

Jokic's ability to catch a ball, survey his options, pick one and make the right pass at the right time - all in 2 seconds or less - while some of the best defensive basketball players on the planet swarm around him is really something to behold. I hope we get 10+ more years of it.

Blazers, spurs, jazz and now the clippers all failed to figure out how to defend Jokic in the playoffs. If anyone can do it it’s probably Lebron doing his free safety stuff.

If my maths is correct, Heat have made 2 of their last 18 3-point attempts.

celtics still can't figure out how to not foul this team

the heat have "it"

celts were lost vs zone d

If the Heat make it to the finals they have to let Mark Wahlberg into the bubble. It's law.

Marcus Smart is screaming in the #Celtics locker room and there is a bunch of arguing going on. Smart comes out say “y’all on that bullshit!” Team is imploding. Smart is in bathroom and there is still screaming coming from locker room.

— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) September 18, 2020

lol

Smart wasn’t the only one yelling. There were definitely items thrown and a lot of yelling. #Celtics

— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) September 18, 2020

There were loud clanks — like someone throwing items — coming from the Celtics’ locker room. https://t.co/0D9SokSr5u

— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) September 18, 2020

is this the celtics mindtype?

i guess they haven't learned how to beat good zone d since thats what almost killed them vs raps too

celtics are no longer a vibes team, alas

I still don’t feel like the Heat are going to win, which in a way means they cannot truly win

league is not gonna let the possibility of a lakers celtics final get snuffed out this easily

those were celtics jump shots https://t.co/MgGLbrH8Og

— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) September 18, 2020

Celtics beat writers have been taking every opportunity almost weekly for the past year to remind anyone within earshot that any and all chemistry and behind the scenes issues with this team last season were the sole fault of that moody upstart Kyrie. Don't remember guys screaming and throwing shit at each other in the locker room after a loss when he was on the team tho...

everyone blames the flat earther

it’s been two pretty bad and very close losses, i get how it could become that heated and not be the sign of deep chemistry issues, given the stakes

i just don’t see the celtics crumbling like they did last year. that team waved the white flag like 2.5 games into the bucks series bcuz everyone knew the “best” player on the team was skipping town 45 seconds after the final buzzer. that just isn’t the case this year.

they also had an emotionally rough series against toronto after taking the first two easily, prob feels like a pretty big hole for them

I still don’t feel like the Heat are going to win, which in a way means they cannot truly win

the heat were a terrible match up for the bucks and still may have lost in a scenario where the bucks have a true home court. extrapolate bubble playoff results — game situations that will almost certainly never be replicated in nba history — at your own risk!

NBA don't want it to happen and it probably won't, but a Heat & Nuggets finals would be great.

Heat somehow win it all, they would have had 3 different ERAs of club win the title. I guess Wade was a carry over from the Shaq club to the Big 3, but still not even the Lakers or Celtics have pulled that off (yet) in recent memory.

You got to wonder how the ceiling is for a guy like Herro. It boggles my mind how much he has improved since he started at UK to now and really not that long a period. He went from incoming freshman bench player to a one and done and getting some minutes to turning into an NBA star in like a year.

'how high the ceiling'

activating league agent kelly o

has anyone done a side-by-side video of the clippers bench reaction to MKG shooting a 3 off the side of the backboard and the paul george’s shot in game 7?

league is not gonna let the possibility of a lakers celtics final get snuffed out this easily

NBA don't want it to happen and it probably won't, but a Heat & Nuggets finals would be great.

Still sort of following post-Raptors...I was thinking about the same thing. From the standpoint of Maximum Possible Error (like when Sports Illustrated picked Cleveland to win the World Series in 1987 and they ended up as the worst team in baseball), would a Denver-Miami final be the worst possible pairing out of the eight remaining teams from the standpoint of the networks? I guess Denver-Toronto would have been the worst, but I thought Toronto might have a little extra ratings boost as the defending champions.

(No reflection on the two teams--Miami/Denver would be an exciting series, I'm sure.)

Bubble Stat of the Day #48!

The Heat have played 37 clutch minutes in the playoffs, per https://t.co/rPv60Gynsd (last 5 minutes, score within 5 points).

They've scored 128 points per 100 possessions in those minutes—and allowed only 92, for a net rating of *plus-36*.

— Zach Kram (@zachkram) September 18, 2020

celts were lost vs zone d

― johnny crunch, Thursday, September 17, 2020 9:39 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

basically

I'll take Celtics drama directly in my veins, thanks.

To me the only bad outcome is the Lakers winning the title. Every other champ would would be very very cool

has anyone done a side-by-side video of the clippers bench reaction to MKG shooting a 3 off the side of the backboard and the paul george’s shot in game 7?

lakers and clips both falling before the finals wld be great IMHO cause theyre both mercenary super teams also IMHO celtics drama isnt anything i mean marcus smart yelling isnt news

celtics not being able to play against the zone for two straight series well brad got some splainin to do

sorry you cant claim good vibes anymore. sad day for you i know

vibes are not to be claimed but to be rode --lao tzu

heat are taking the ball away from the celts whenever they want to and frankly outplaying them and even so they're only barely winning. i do not think this is over but yeesh they got 30 hours to figure it out.

the heat are playing shockingly good basketball from where they were pre quar

we call that shogoball for short

would a Denver-Miami final be the worst possible pairing out of the eight remaining teams from the standpoint of the networks?

this is unquestionably true and wholly irrelevant to anyone here on ILH because we love hoops, not ratings. even if it meant a smaller network contract next time around, that only would affect salaries and profits, not the quality of play.

is miami that small a market for bball still? compared to like philly or w/e

I would be personally be pretty psyched about that final and pretty excited to see how it played out! but i don't think your average person could name two (maybe even one?) player from either team

yeah, exactly. does Joe America know the Joker or Jimmy Butler? Probably not. them's the breaks, NBA billionaire owners!

prob wld be the worst series from a general interest pov since spurs pistons

we call that shogoball for short

― ciderpress, Friday, September 18, 2020 2:11 PM (forty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

shogob

wholly irrelevant to anyone here on ILH because we love hoops

I kind of get that, aimless, which is why I added "No reflection on the two teams--Miami/Denver would be an exciting series, I'm sure."

def one of the better series from an interesting teams perspective

I just find the possibility of Miami/Denver amusing, knowing how badly the networks wanted L.A. (either) vs. the Celtics--happens all the time in baseball. I'm becoming interested in Jamal Murray--Kitchener's sort of down the road from me.